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Wyoming

Recent News

A new study used the annual counts of male sage-grouse at communal breeding sites in Wyoming to measure population size over time in relation to the density of oil and gas wells. These data determined that Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations in the state declined 2.5 percent annually between 1984 and 2008, with the rise in domestic energy production contributing to the decline.

Annual counts of male Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) displaying at lek sites are an important resource for monitoring populations of this species, but seasonal and diurnal variation in lek attendance may increase variance and bias of trend analyses.

Research conducted by FORT Scientists Tim Assal and Pat Anderson in the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative was recently featured on the NASA Landsat Program’s Science Blog. In a recent paper in the journal Forest Ecology and Management, Assal et al. (2016) document the effect of multiple droughts on the condition of forest along the shrubland ecotone using a long-term series of satellite observations.